


desire for the strange and new

by stillicide_snow



Series: things unseen (are not unmade) [2]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Autistic David Rose, Episode: s05e11 Meet the Parents, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillicide_snow/pseuds/stillicide_snow
Summary: “Your mom’s very friendly”, David says cautiously as they prepare to open the store, and Patrick nearly drops a tub of bath salts.Two days after David meets Patrick's family they talk about the shift in their relationship, and Patrick thinks about touch.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: things unseen (are not unmade) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811956
Comments: 7
Kudos: 175





	desire for the strange and new

**Author's Note:**

> [@Distractivate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Distractivate) mentioned that it's interesting how lots of fic has David and Marcy instantly clicking, which I absolutely love reading. But I couldn't stop thinking about how it might be if that didn't work out right away, especially given how David's quite particular about. Uh. Everything. The rest of it is just me getting in my feelings about Patrick.
> 
> Thank you so much [@lovely_narcissa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovely_narcissa) for betaing!
> 
> Title from ['Halfway Home'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kI429kLWPU) by Nerina Pallot.
> 
> Set shortly after 5.11 Meet the Parents.

“Your mom’s very friendly”, David says cautiously as they prepare to open the store, and Patrick nearly drops a tub of bath salts.

It’s been two days since Patrick’s birthday. Two days since Patrick saw his parents in person for the first time since he moved to Schitt’s Creek and finally told them why he’d done so. Two days since David inadvertently gave him his family back.

They’ve been a good two days. David had looked after the store yesterday so Patrick had spent most of it with his parents, giving them a tour of Schitt’s Creek before showing them around Rose Apothecary. His mom had been effusive first in her praise of the gift basket and then of the store itself, his dad more reserved but clearly proud. After closing they’d all four gone to dinner in Elm Glen, his parents keen to know David better.

His parents liked the store. They liked David. Patrick had really hoped that was mutual.

“Did she - is that a problem?”, Patrick asks.

“No”, David says quickly, then purses his lips. He gets this look sometimes, when he’s afraid that what he wants to say will sound callous. He never acts that way deliberately, Patrick knows, but he doesn’t always realize how his words will come across until it’s too late. The best thing is usually to be patient, and Patrick tries that now even as his heart is in his mouth. A moment later David says, hesitant, “It’s just - she’s a bit, um. Cuddly?” David wrinkles his nose as he speaks, like even he can’t believe the word’s come out of his mouth.

For most of his life Patrick hadn’t considered himself a particularly tactile person. He certainly wasn’t when it came to romantic relationships - it made him uncomfortable when other people acted that way in public, and he’d assumed that that was why he was reluctant to do much more than hold hands with whichever girl he was dating. He knows better now, of course.

But seeing his parents in person has made him realize how much he missed the easy, comfortable affection they offered. The kind that could only be given by those who’d known him his whole life. When his mom had taken his hands across the table at the café it had been the first time in years - in maybe his whole life - that he’d felt he could really accept that affection without his skin humming with doubt that he was holding something of himself back from her, even if he didn’t know what it was. There was still anxiety, as he expects will be the case for a long time, but for once he didn’t feel guilty.

It’s different with David. That feels like an understatement; everything is different with David. But casual touches come easy now. He offers them whenever he can - checking David’s hip with his own as they pass each other at the cash register, brushing a thumb on David’s thigh when he’s agitated, pressing his lips to that spot on David’s neck that he privately thinks of as being just for him. Something in him thrills at it every time, like he still can’t get enough of David’s body and how it responds to his own.

David is, if anything, even more tactile than Patrick. He’s so demonstrative with his hands even when he probably doesn’t mean to be; it was one of the first things Patrick noticed about him. When they met at Ray's, David had seemed uncertain but his hands had been so precise, their movements emphasizing the crux of his plan for the general store even as he struggled to articulate it. It had made Patrick more willing to trust that David knew what he was doing, to hear him out. That, and the fact that David was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.

After they got together it seemed like David couldn’t stop himself from touching Patrick. His hands flutter between them, coming to rest on Patrick’s arms or shoulders. His thumbs trace circles on Patrick’s sweaters even as he laments the wool acrylic blend, like he doesn’t really mind it if it means he gets to keep touching Patrick. They usually share a booth at the café but if it’s busy they get a table and David smiles each time their knees bump together. David is so comfortable with him. Patrick hopes he never takes that for granted.

Stevie acts like she finds it sickening, but it’s less convincing every time.

“You didn’t know him when they came here”, she told him after last week’s _Cabaret_ rehearsal. “They all changed a lot that first year, but David is… he’s so different now. It’s like he likes himself.”

In the early days of their relationship Patrick had been a little envious of Stevie. She and David had this easy rapport that Patrick couldn’t immediately follow, like they were on the same wavelength he wasn’t quite tuned into. He knows them both better now and oftentimes he can see where David’s train of thought is going before David does, but that’s something he’s learned. It’s instinctual for Stevie. Hers and David’s brains just work the same way.

For all that Patrick envies their closeness though, David and Stevie are always physically pretty distant with each other. And now that he’s thinking about it Patrick realizes that’s true of almost everyone David interacts with. Alexis is easy with physical affection and he’d assumed that David’s rejections of it were part and parcel of their relationship as siblings, one of those teasing big brother things Patrick would never really understand. But David is like that with everyone, his clothes and sometimes-sharp voice and fidgeting hands sending a clear message: look, but don’t touch. To everyone except Patrick.

“David, if my mom’s done something to make you uncomfortable -”

“It’s fine”, David says, fiddling with the lip balms, “It’s stupid. I know she’s being nice.”

“Even so…” Patrick trails off.

Patrick’s mom can be a lot. He would never describe her that way out loud - especially not in front of David, who has had a lifetime of being told he’s _a lot_ by people who didn’t stick around - but she is, sometimes. In the café two nights ago she was so eager to be supportive that she seemed almost frantic. And Patrick loves that about her, loves that she wanted so desperately for him to know she had his back, but it can be a little overwhelming for other people. Especially someone like David, for whom openness has never been easy.

“If you want me to ask her to ease off I can do that”, Patrick tells him. He walks over to stand across the counter from David, resting his hand near but not touching.

“No, no, no”, David says, “You just started talking to them again, you can’t just - I wouldn’t ask you to -”

“But you’re not asking, David. I’m offering.”

They shouldn’t really be having this conversation now, in the middle of the store on a Monday morning, but they aren’t technically open yet and - well, David brought it up. It was clearly bothering him.

David still looks unsure so Patrick says, “My parents like you. They want you to be comfortable with them. And… it’s like you said the other night. We get through these things together.”

David isn’t even particularly affectionate with his own mom. It’s not fair to expect him to manage that with someone else’s right away. And Patrick knows, now, that David will be in his life for a long time. As long as he’s willing to give Patrick. So he wants David to be comfortable with saying he’s uncomfortable.

“I’m not really used to parents that are -” David gestures vaguely between them, and when his hands come back down he rests his fingertips on Patrick’s palm. “She seems very nice. They both do.”

“They are”, Patrick tells him, and it’s true. Patrick was terrified of coming out to them, sure, but he’s never for a second doubted that they’re good, or kind. That they love him. “I’m really hoping you get to know them better, David.”

David nods, still obviously preoccupied, and Patrick twists their fingers together.

Patrick feels a little as though he’s been living two lives without realizing: one here with David and the store, and one back home. He’d thought of the latter as being on pause while he kept growing and changing here, but now the two are starting to synchronize.

Moving to Schitt’s Creek was a blessing even before he met David. Here he could start afresh, even if he wasn’t quite brave enough to do so right away. But for the first time since college he felt free from people’s expectations. At home he was Patrick, Clint and Marcy’s son who played baseball and acted in school shows and went away to study business. Patrick, who broke Rachel’s heart.

Here he can be someone new, someone who still plays baseball and acts in shows and co-owns a business. But he can also be a good boyfriend, _have_ a boyfriend. He’s still him, but he’s so much freer now.

“I’ll talk to my mom tonight, if you want”, he says, “And I was thinking of inviting them to come see _Cabaret_ in a few weeks so you can talk to her as well, if you want.”

“That sounds good. Um. Yes”, David says with a shy smile. Patrick lifts their joined hands and presses a kiss to David’s fingers, then goes to unlock the doors to their store.

He’s hoping by the time _Cabaret_ rolls around that David won’t be just his boyfriend anymore. He’s wanted to ask for a long time, but knowing what David has done for him over the last few days, he’s certain. Now that Patrick’s life has finally coalesced, he wants to start living it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is very welcome, and I'm also [on Tumblr!](https://pelides.co.vu)


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